Keeping players cool in the heat

The Franklin Parish High School football field (Source: Franklin Parish High School Athletics/Twitter)

ARKANSAS (KSLA) -

Parents and coaches look out for your kids. Rising temperatures could be draining your kids.

Football season training has already begun with early morning practices on these fields.

But, as the sun comes up on the players and coaches, the heat can be just as brutal as a major tackle, if not more so.

Coach Jim Getlin is the head football coach of Northwood high in Shreveport.

He says that makes sure his players of plenty of water, and frequent breaks to combat the heat.

"Kid starts getting beat red, starts not sweating as much as he should be. Those are signs that you better get them taken care of real quick. The key is not to let them get to that point," says Getlin.

Getlin says he let's his players take as many breaks as they need to keep them hydrated, he also pushes parents to keep an eye on their kids when they get home.

For the parents, coaches are asking that before the kids are sent to practice, they have something to eat.

"We emphasize with early morning work outs; we emphasize that they eat right. If they're eating something, drinking some water, and some power raids, before they get here definitely does help," says Getlin.

For Getlin, he says the knowledge that parents, coaches, and schools have learned about heat related problems has increased since he was a player.

"We had one water break during the practice time. That's just cause the coaches were tired, and we were going from offense to defense. Now they get breaks every ten to fifteen minutes. The knowledge to try and prepare these guys is a little bit better."

Youngstown State University student Albert Maruna was caught red-handed and arrested this week after he allegedly attempted to have sex with a 15-year-old boy, who turned out to be an undercover officer.

Youngstown State University student Albert Maruna was caught red-handed and arrested this week after he allegedly attempted to have sex with a 15-year-old boy, who turned out to be an undercover officer.